Baby eels, called elvers, are used by Asian aquaculture companies so they can be raised to maturity to make sushi. Fishermen in Maine are allowed to harvest a little more than 9,600 pounds of elvers annually.

State records say fishermen have harvested more than 85 percent of quota. They're getting more than $1,300 per pound at the dock for the elvers.

Elvers were worth more than $2,100 per pound in 2015. Maine elvers became in high demand several years ago because Asian and European supplies dried up. The fishery was worth less than $600,000 in 2010 and shot up to more than $40 million in 2012.